


They Say I’m A Beast (And They Feast On It)

by MalachiWalker



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: A lot softer than a fic about vampires has any right to be, Adora has no chill, Also featuring Catra the hot mess, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Being turned into a vampire doesn't mean you're automatically a good hunter, F/F, Featuring Adora the Deeply Concerned friendly neighborhood vampire, Parrallels to canon cuz I'm a slut for that, She has good reasons, Starts out hilarious and veers into hurt/comfort, surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-27 23:56:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21127382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalachiWalker/pseuds/MalachiWalker
Summary: And honestly, Adora had expected that to be the end of it. She'd found the vampire who attacked her best friend, issued her one-time warning to Catra to stop eating humans, and showed her she wasn't the only vampire in the area. The terrified expression on Catra's face when Adora had her up against the wall--hands tightening around her wrists to make it clear that she could break her if she wanted... That made Adora feel like her message had gotten through.Adora genuinely thought that would be the end of it. Except these run-ins with Catra just kept happening.-------------Or three times vampire Adora ran into Catra failing to catch non-human prey, and one time she had enough.





	They Say I’m A Beast (And They Feast On It)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [girlinred](https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlinred/gifts).
  * Inspired by [BITE TO EAT](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21023444) by [girlinred](https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlinred/pseuds/girlinred). 

> As noted, this fic was inspired by the very cool BITE TO EAT by girlinred, who graciously allowed me to write this despite having her own sequel planned. I highly recommend checking it out, but if you just want a quick catch-up, Catra is a struggling vampire dealing with increased security in her area following her nearly killing Glimmer a month prior. Going to a Halloween party with the aim of finding a victim, she hones in on "Sarah" a blonde from Bright Moon Academy and manages to coax her into a secluded area, only to have "Sarah" turn the tables and reveal that Catra isn't the only vampire in the area and to warn her to stay away from humans and stop feeding on them. "Sarah" (revealed to be Adora) then returns to her friends with the hope that Catra took her warning to heart.

Truthfully, Adora had thought that would be the end of it. Find the vampire who attacked Glimmer, give them a warning they wouldn't forget, then keep an eye on the area until she was certain her instructions had been followed. Piece of cake.

Admittedly, she didn't really want to have to put Catra down. The other vampire _had_ been pretty charming, even if only as a hunting strategy. Even if it was obvious to Adora that her sire was doing a piss-poor job of showing her the ropes.

_I mean, she should have been able to clue in that I was like her the instant she smelled me._

Luckily for her, that hadn't happened, and the resulting surprise... Well, the terrified expression on Catra's face when Adora had her up against the wall--hands tightening around her wrists to make it clear that she could _break_ her if she wanted... That made Adora feel like her message had gotten through.

She genuinely thought that would be the end of it.

Except, well, this kept happening.

\--------

The first time was two nights after the party, and Adora had been out on a run. Not a hunt; just enjoying the feel of the night air and the pounding of her feet on the pavement. It was a little past two in the morning on a Sunday, so next to no one was out on the streets aside from a few homeless curled in their alleys and it was almost impossibly easy for a vampire like Adora to avoid their attention.

Almost as if by design, she found herself standing on the outskirts of the Horde campus. The same place where she had found Catra at the party--and truth be told, Adora had only gone to make sure Glimmer and Bow would be okay.

She'd made certain that she was the only vampire at Bright Moon Academy the day she enrolled there and established that as her territory. Glimmer hadn't been able to recall much about her attacker--getting jumped in a dark alley and nearly bled to death would do that to you, to say nothing of the fact that she'd been drinking--but she did say she remembered thinking she was about their age. And while there was always a possibility that the other vamp wasn't in college, Adora knew she would need to check out the Horde as soon as possible. Just to be thorough.

In all honesty, it had been a little _too_ easy. Like a lot of fledglings, Catra's cockiness had played against her. All it had taken was setting herself up as a victim, a little coyness on Adora's part, and the other vampire had practically been putty in her hands.

_She had smelled pretty good, though._

As she stood outside of the gates of the Horde, her sensitive ears picked up something that had her hands clenching in alarm.

A loud thud--as if of somebody falling to the ground--and a shout. "Son of a _bitch!"_

_Catra_.

Hot rage boiled through Adora's cold veins as she vaulted the locked gates without even bothering with a running start, landing on the other side and turning her head to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. As if on cue, there was another thump, another expletive from Catra.

Sounded almost like she was carrying a body to dispose of.

_Oh hell no,_ Adora thought as she raced through the campus. Unlike Bright Moon, the Horde's security was borderline laughable; barely a camera to be found and the streetlights spaced so far apart that it was easy for Adora to navigate through the shadows with barely a sound. Honestly, it was like they didn't even give a shit about the safety of their students.

It took her less than a half a minute to approach the perimeter of the noises, stopping in a darkened copse of trees to take a deep breath out of habit and steel herself for the fight to come. Not that she was in any doubt that she would win; her effortless manhandling of Catra in the second floor hallway had already proven that Adora was stronger than her and Catra, for all her charm, had more bark than bite when presented with someone who wasn't going to just lay down and be a victim.

No, the pause and the breath was her way of getting ready for what she would have to do next. Adora didn't _like_ killing, which was a big part of what made her a good vamp, since it helped her stay under the radar. But she would do it if it meant that Catra's carelessness was stopped before she brought the whole house of cards that was their species' safety crumbling down.

Another impact, and a strangled "_Motherfucker_!"

Adora moved to the edge of the tree line, preparing for the rush and the kill...

And nearly burst out laughing at the sight in front of her.

Because about twenty yards away, sprawled on her ass beneath a large oak tree, was Catra. Catra, dressed in jeans, a leather jacket and big stompy boots, (and honestly, that suited her personality more than that get-up on Halloween, though the cat ears _had_ been cute) and who was currently staring up at the lowest branch of the tree with a glower.

On the limb, a squirrel was chittering furiously down at her.

_Oh my God,_ Adora thought, covering her mouth with one hand to keep any laughter from slipping out.

"Yeah, well fuck you too, buddy," Catra spat, having moved on to _trash-talking_ the one pound rodent. "I got all night to play this game."

Flashing into a crouch, she leapt at the squirrel, only to overshoot as the frightened animal dove out of the way. Instead, Catra landed chest first on the grass beyond, sliding a little and letting out a rain of frustrated cursing.

Adora couldn't keep doing this. If she watched any more, the laugh that was richocheting in her chest would force its way out and alert Catra to her presence. She'd probably be pissed.

So she turned and sprinted away from Catra and her new nemesis, only stopping when she reached the gates to double over with laughter.

_I guess she took me seriously after all._ Shooting a fond smile over her shoulder and wishing Catra the best on her "hunt" Adora quickly scaled the fence and headed back to Bright Moon with a spring in her step.

\---------

The second time it happened, Adora was starting to feel a little concerned.

She'd been on her way back from an early morning Starbucks run a few blocks away from campus--a little under a week later--when she encountered Catra for the third time. It was more or less a myth that vampires couldn't tolerate sunlight; the single grain of truth was that it seriously hurt their eyes, which were altered to be able to hunt at night in perfect clarity. In the days before sunglasses, it had been enough to keep them in permanent creature-of-the-night mode, but times had changed.

It was also a myth that they could only drink blood. Sure, a vampire couldn't eat _solid_ food without needing to throw it up later. But liquids were fine; after all, a vampire's body was basically just a giant blood stream and things like caffeine and alcohol could travel through it just fine. Helped with blending in too, since college students were basically just glorified engines converting caffeine into schoolwork.

So Adora, sunglasses on and coffee in hand, only stumbled slightly when she rounded a corner and saw a very familiar brunette sticking halfway through the rungs of a park fence.

Even as she watched, a little stunned, Catra attempted to twist her arm back and grip one of the rungs confining her. But the angle was all wrong so although vampires--even fledglings like Catra--had an edge on humans in terms of raw strength, the inability to achieve proper leverage meant she couldn't _use_ any of it. After a second or two of tugging, Catra just sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands, muttering, "Scorpia's never gonna let me live this one down."

_Just walk away,_ the part of Adora's brain that actually had social awareness said. But damn it, her sense of responsibility wouldn't let her. So with a sigh of her own--and mentally tucking away the name 'Scorpia' for further investigation--she walked toward Catra, noting the other vampire stiffening when she picked up the sound.

"Need some help?"

Catra's hands shot away from her face, and not for the first time Adora was caught flat-footed by just how _pretty_ those two-colored eyes made her look. Catra squinted up at her, eyes screwing tight with obvious pain from the early morning sunlight, before the rest of her face twisted into a grimace. "Oh, it's you. What do you want, _'Sarah'_?"

"It's Adora, actually," She replied, taking pity on the other vamp and squatting in front of her to block out the sunlight. "Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle. How'd this happen?"

"I was being a good little bloodsucker and chasing a raccoon," Catra frowned up at her, relieved by the sudden lack of burning in her eyes but still sullen at being caught by _her_ of all people. "If you laugh, I'll bite you."

"I won't laugh," Adora promised. "These kind of things happen when you're just starting out."

Catra snorted. "I bet _you_ never got stuck in a fence."

"No, but I did fall off a two-story building and into a dumpster. That was pretty embarrassing."

The admission did get a small chuckle out of Catra, her pretty features softening just a little from her former scowl. "So why are you here?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay," Adora shrugged, even as Catra's eyes snapped back at her incredulously. "You could probably force your way out if necessary."

Catra mumbled something in response.

"Pardon?"

"I _said_ 'The bars are cutting into my sides'," Catra snarled, running a hand through the wild mess of her dark curls. "I can't afford to lose more blood, or I'd have been out of here hours ago."

"You've been stuck out here since last night?" Adora's voice rose a little in pitch. She had heard that some vampires were strict, with a Spartan "thrive or die" mentality towards their fledglings, but this was getting pretty extreme. Even Shadow Weaver, for all her many, _many_ faults, (the same faults that had led to Adora striking out on her own a short year after being turned) had been relentlessly _thorough_ in schooling Adora through the ins and outs of "life" as a vampire both before and after her turning.

Catra shrugged, as nonchalant as one could be when they were stuck halfway through a fence at six in the morning. "Just a couple of hours. Wasn't expecting to be gone this long, or I'd have brought shades too."

Adora sat back on her heels, processing that information. _Jesus Christ, and here I thought Shadow Weaver and her bullshit was bad. If you can't even be bothered to train your fledgling properly on how to survive, than what was the damn point of changing them in the first place?_

"Okay," She said slowly, making up her mind. "I might have a solution, if you want to hear it."

"Well, go ahead. Can't promise I'll be on board with it," Catra grumbled, but it was obvious with the way she refused to look at Adora that she was both embarrassed and humiliated at needing help to begin with. Adora felt a rush of pity at that, though she was careful to temper her offer out of respect for Catra's pride.

"I can bend the bars for you. Just a little. You can wiggle out on your own."

Catra's eyes watched Adora for a long moment, clearly gauging her intentions, before she sighed and laid her head against the concrete of the sidewalk in defeat. "Fine. But don't tell anyone you had to save me. Or I'll put a brick through your window."

Adora chuckled, glancing around to make sure there was no one else on the street before reaching out to grab the bars. "For the record, you're saving yourself. I'm just evening the odds a little."

She kept her word; the bars bent beneath her strength, but only a bit. Just enough for Catra to wriggle her way out and collapse onto the pavement, one hand gingerly massaging at her sides, where Adora could see striations left behind where her shirt rode up.

_And some pretty nice obliques--FOCUS, ADORA._

Beside her, Catra staggered to her feet, pointedly ignoring the hand Adora held out in offer. Once she was steady again, she just stared at her. "Why...?"

Adora shrugged, effecting the same nonchalant attitude that Catra was so good at. "Just felt like it. And like I said, these kind of things happen when you're learning the ropes."

Catra's eyes narrowed. "You're not one of those insufferable people with a need to save everyone, are you?"

"Naw," Adora answered easily. "Just the kind of person that likes to look out for those around me. No matter how insufferable they may be."

That little jab finally got a smile out of Catra.

"Fucking nerd," She replied, but there was just a little bit of fondness in her eyes as she turned to walk away. "And hey, Adora?"

"Yeah?" Adora called back as she took a sip of her now-cooled coffee.

"Thanks."

\--------

The third time it happened, Adora officially crossed the line from concerned to "Are you fucking kidding me?"

It was about two weeks after she had first met Catra, and for the past week the two had successfully managed to avoid each other. While Adora was glad that Catra was seemingly getting the hang of things, she couldn't help but be a little disappointed. While she was still angry at the other vampire for attacking Glimmer... It was kind of hard to stay _as_ mad after seeing what she was up against. And despite her overall prickliness, Adora did enjoy talking to her and if Catra was going to keep obeying the rules Adora laid out... Well, she didn't see any reason why they couldn't become friends.

_Or maybe you just want the opportunity to stare at her pretty face some more._

Rolling her eyes at herself, she shouldered her backpack full of books she'd picked up from the city library (Bright Moon's library was great for informational texts, not so much for simple entertainment) and was headed back home when she passed by an alleyway. With a high-pitched scream and a sound like a pack of cats fighting in a tumble dryer, an honest-to-God _coyote_ darted out in front of her and raced out into the street, yipping as it went.

Adora stared after it, mouth agape. She'd heard that coyotes did surprisingly well for themselves in urban environments, but this was the first time she'd seen one for herself. Their legendary skittishness put even her tracking skills to shame.

Honestly, the encounter would be pretty cool and something to brag to Glimmer and Bow about, if not for the now familiar scent wafting on the breeze after the terrified animal.

_Oh no, _she thought, bracing herself as she turned around to look down the alleyway. Yup; about halfway down the alley she saw a pair of legs capped off by combat boots splayed out just beyond the dumpster.

S_wear to God,_ she thought furiously as she marched down the alley to where Catra was sprawled out on the filthy ground, staring vacantly up at the sky with fever bright eyes. _When I find out who sired her, I am going to beat them within an inch of their life, because this shit's not funny anymore._

Still, for the sake of Catra's pride at least, she kept her tone light as she crouched beside her head and leaned over to block her view of the sky. "Ok, that night we met I thought you were hunting humans _just_ to be an asshole, but wow. You are really bad at this."

To Adora's increasing concern, Catra let out a weak chuckle at that, completely ignoring the jab at her lack of hunting prowess. "No, I am _totally_ an asshole, pretty-lady-whose-name-is-not-Sarah. But even I'll admit I suck at this."

Not even caring at this point if Catra snapped at her, Adora laid a hand across her forehead, jerking it back in surprise. Vampires were generally a bit colder than humans unless they had recently fed, but Catra's skin was downright freezing. And now that she was up close, she could see that her clothes were tattered and covered in mud, and there were deep scratches adorning her bare skin, even a few on her jaw line and forehead. None of them showed any sign of bleeding.

This wasn't good.

"Catra," She asked slowly, trying to hide her rising sense of alarm. "How long has it been since you last fed?"

Catra frowned at that, eyes struggling to focus. "How long's it been since the party?"

"About two weeks," Adora answered, feeling a little relieved. Two weeks without feeding wasn't great for a fledgling, but it wasn't terrible either.

"Oh. Then about a month and a half."

_ABORTABORTABORT_! Adora's mind shrieked with emergency sirens, and she couldn't help the high pitched yelp that slipped out at that. "How are you still alive?!"

Catra tried to shrug, but could barely manage to move her shoulders. "Always was hard to kill. Though, with you here, I'm considering taking up on your offer. You know, the throat tearing?"

She let out a little chuckle at that, oblivious to the look of horror on Adora's face. "At this point, I'd consider it a real favor. Scorpia gets first dibs on all my stuff though."

"Scorpia?" That name again. Adora had thought that maybe this Scorpia was Catra's sire, but when she put out her feelers after their last encounter she'd been unable to find a vampire with that name.

"My busybody roommate," Catra smiled, just a little, before morphing back into a look of exhaustion and pain. "She's probably worried by now. I've texted her, but I haven't been home in three days."

_"What?"_ At this point Adora's voice had lost all composure_. Forget the beating, when I find her sire I'm going to rip their goddamn throat out. _"You've been out here trying to feed this whole time?"

"Yup," Catra answered, trying to wave a hand. "No humans, that was the deal. S'why I can't go home. Don't think I'd be able to control myself if she tried to bear hug me like she always does."

"Oh my God," Adora muttered, running a hand through her hair as she tried to calm herself. "Why didn't you go to an animal shelter or something?"

Catra snorted. "Have you ever actually _been_ to an animal shelter, princess? Costs money to adopt these days, and you have to fill out paperwork so if you keep rolling up wanting new pets they'll know something's up. Besides... I'm _not_ going to eat a cat."

Adora frowned at the surprising amount of heat behind that last statement. "You'd sooner eat humans than you would a cat?"

"Humans can be assholes. Hell, humans can be _monsters._ Cats... Cats just wanna be loved. And we made them dependent on us. Not their fault that most people can't be bothered to learn their language."

Adora blinked, trying to process that particular piece of information. The fact that Catra could be so eloquent even when she was six weeks starving meant she must have thought about that a lot, and even though Adora balked at the idea of putting a cat's life above a human's... When she put it that way, it _did_ make a bit of twisted sense.

"Ok, no cats," She said soothingly. "But what about your sire, Catra? Couldn't they give you any help?"

"My what now?"

And there went the breaking glass of Adora's last shred of sanity.

"Your _sire,_ Catra," Adora hissed, fighting down the urge to grab the other vampire by the shoulders and shake her. "You know, the vampire that turned you?"

"Oh, that guy. Big scary Nosferatu-looking motherfucker. Yeah, never really got his name."

"_WHAT_." This should not be happening. This _could_ not be happening. While it was a well known fact that in the past some vampires had turned their victims out of sadistic glee and abandoned them on their own, the centuries of vampire hunts and executions started in response to those fledglings running wild with no one to guide them meant that vampires these days picked their future fledglings _very_ carefully. Even Adora, who had been a bit of a special case from the very start, had been evaluated all her life to ensure that she was a good candidate for the lifestyle.

"Yeah, I was walking home from the bar one night about a year ago. Guy snuck up behind me and chomped down on my neck."

"But there has to be a blood transfer for someone to turn," Adora protested, despite her own knowledge that that wasn't _always_ the case, as her own situation aptly demonstrated. But the odds of two _moroii_ being in the same city at the same time and no one figuring it out were astronomically low.

Thankfully for her fraying sanity, Catra did have an explanation for that one. "Yeah. Like my mom used to say, 'If you're gonna die, at least sell yourself dearly.' Knew there was no way I was gonna walk away with a neck wound like that, but I was able to bite the shit out of his arm as payback. He threw me off the bridge afterward."

That meant Catra would have woken up, alone, either underwater or washed up on shore, with no idea of what had happened before the red thirst descended on her. The thought made Adora want to vomit.

And just like that, Adora was fucking done. Grabbing Catra under her arms, she hauled the half-conscious vampire over her shoulder, ignoring the oof she let out in the process. Adjusting Catra more comfortably and preparing to run full tilt like only a vampire could back to the apartment she shared with Glimmer and Bow on the edge of campus, she told her "I'm taking you back to my place. Then I'm going out to get you something to eat. When you're at full strength again, I'll show you how to hunt properly."

"Why would you help me?" Catra whined, and Adora felt her shudder as a desperate wave of hunger rippled through her body. "I hurt your friend, remember?"

"I know, and I'm still gonna be mad about that for a while. But I'm helping you right now because no one else has. And because I _like_ you, Catra. I don't need a more complicated reason."

"Fucking nerd," Catra whispered against her neck before finally passing out.

\--------

But of course, worried or not, Adora wasn't foolish enough to leave her very human roommates alone with a starving vampire, so on her way she texted Glimmer.

_Adora_

Hey Glim, I'm gonna need you and Bow to get out of the apartment for at least a couple of hours.

_Glimmer_

Adora, omg.

Is this you sex-iling us? Did you finally score?

_Adora_

Your fixation with my sex life--or lack thereof--is a little weird, Glim.

_Glimmer_

Girl, please. Just because you’re my best friend doesn’t mean I can’t /see/.

You’re a fucking snacc and the fact that you’ve been single this long is practically a crime against nature.

_Adora_

All right, Glimmer.

But if you must know, I'm bringing a sorta friend over. I do like her quite a bit, but right now she's really sick, so I'm gonna watch over her for a bit in case she needs to go to the hospital.

_Glimmer_

-whistles- She must be pretty special for you to go into protection mode like this. You usually only do that for us.

Sure you don't want us to stick around and help out?

_Adora_

Definitely not. She gets kinda edgy around too many new people at once. Just give me a few hours to get her settled. I'll send a hundred bucks to your account so you and Bow can go see a movie and grab dinner.

_Glimmer_

Make it 75. You're gonna need at least a little bit of that for medicine.

_Adora_

Deal.

With that taken care of and the money wired into Glimmer's account, Adora readjusted her grip on Catra--who was currently mumbling incoherently into Adora's back in a _very_ distracting manner--and resumed the race home.

\--------

Adora, as a general rule, did _not_ like feeding on humans, and she especially hated the idea of killing them just to keep herself alive, which was the point that she and Shadow Weaver had ultimately gone their separate ways over. While she wasn't horribly fond of killing animals either--or at least making it painful for them--hurting beings that were just as sentient and self-aware as she was made her feel physically ill.

But desperate times called for desperate measures, and with Catra literally inches from death Adora was willing to bend her rules just a little, but not fully compromise them. She just didn't have the _time_ to find a large enough quantity of animals to feed her properly. But that didn't mean she had to overly cruel or hurt them too much.

So she found six different people, making certain that she selected those who were large enough to have about seven or eight pints of blood running throughout their bodies, and removed around half a pint from each of them until she felt like she was about ready to burst. They'd be a little woozy afterwards, but only in the very short term and most of them would be completely recovered in a day or two.

Even desperate, Adora refused to let herself become a monster.

Still, it took her around two and a half hours to finish up and race home, practically flying up the steps to the second floor and barreling through the door and into her room, where Catra laid out on the bed, twitching fitfully. Pulling her into a seated position, Adora tried to rouse her. "Catra, wake up. You need to eat."

Catra's eyes fluttered, dilating slightly as she tried to focus on Adora and the wrist she held in front of Catra's mouth. "Didn't get any... Last time."

Adora frowned, before remembering their first meeting and how Catra had bit down on her neck. _Jesus Christ, this girl is incredible. How the hell hasn't she gone feral yet when she's this starved?_ "That's because I hadn't fed in a few days. Our bodies pull the blood deeper into the important organs when we haven't eaten for a while. But right now I'm full up. So _eat_."

Catra opened up, but was so weak that she could only mouth at Adora's wrist, her fangs refusing to drop. Frustrated, Adora snatched her arm back and bit deep into her own wrist, feeling the spurt of hot blood before shoving it none-too-gently back against Catra.

_That_ finally got the reaction she wanted. Weak though she was, Catra's arms snapped up to hold Adora in place, her mouth locked against her wrist while she suckled frantically at the wound. It hurt, but the relief washing over Adora helped alleviate that even as she felt a bit weaker as the "donated" blood was pulled from her system.

When Catra finally started to slow down, laving little kitten licks against the wound instead of desperate gulps, Adora gently placed a hand against Catra's shoulder and pushed her back down onto the bed. Catra went willingly, releasing Adora's arm and looking up at her in a slight daze as she adjusted to no longer having that gnawing hunger in the back of her mind.

"Just rest for now," Adora told her as she finished the job Catra started, licking the wound shut. "Your body needs some time to heal. We can talk when you wake up."

Too tired to even speak, Catra just nodded and closed her eyes.

\--------

Over the next couple of hours, Adora sat in her desk chair next to the bed, reading one of her books and watching carefully as the wounds littering Catra knitted back together and the other vampire began to breathe easier. Her face, usually so defensive, smoothed out a lot as she slept, and Adora had to fight the urge to reach over and brush the hair away from her eyes.

There was a knock on the door around midnight. Adora got up and went to answer, being careful to angle her body so her still-healing wrist wasn't visible. Glimmer and Bow stood in the hallway with a shopping bag held between them.

"Hey," Glimmer said, gesturing at the bag. "Thought we'd grab you guys some tomato soup and saltines on the way back. Your friend doing better?"

"Yeah," Adora smiled, wearily brushing away a few stray bangs that had escaped from her ponytail with a weariness that was far from acting. "Her fever broke about an hour ago, so I think we're out of the danger zone."

"Well just be careful," Bow, who was studying to be a nurse, frowned in concern. "If she gets dehydrated then you should take her to the hospital. Might be a good idea anyway."

"She doesn't have health insurance," Adora lied, though for all she knew that was the case. "That's why she asked me for help."

"Oh geez," Glimmer muttered. While she had never had to worry about health insurance herself (perks of being the daughter of a very protective mayor) she had enough experience listening to her mother's ongoing battles with the city council over providing health care to those who couldn't afford insurance to know what a bitch that could be. "Well, it's a good thing you were there for her. Anyway, here's the supplies. Be sure to get some rest yourself, okay?"

"Thanks guys," Adora said, taking the bag with her uninjured hand before shifting it to the other and waving them both good night as they walked off to their respective rooms.

Setting the bag atop her desk, and reminding herself to drink the soup and dispose of the saltines later, she eyed the bed with its sleeping occupant warily, trying to decide the next step.

"Fuck it" was her eventual conclusion, so gently--as not to wake Catra--she shuffled her over just enough that she could stretch out beside her. Grabbing a folded throw blanket from the foot of her bed and, not needing the warmth herself, she wrapped it around Catra so that hopefully they could avoid potential awkwardness once they both woke up.

Folding her arms behind her head and settling back into the pillows, listening to Catra taking even breaths beside her, Adora closed her eyes and surrendered to sleep.

\--------

Adora woke up around daybreak, feeling Catra starting to stir, little whimpering noises escaping from her lips. Sometime during the night she had balled up in her sleep in a manner not entirely dissimilar to her namesake, Adora's blanket cocooned around her until only her head poked out.

But the thing that really got her attention was the fact that said head was currently pressing _insistently_ into Adora's stomach, even as the sounds of Catra's distress became louder. Still half-asleep and instinctively looking to soothe, she reached down and began to card her fingers through Catra's hair, paying special attention to the line of scalp just above her ears.

Slowly, over the course of long minutes, Catra began to relax again as her breathing evened out. Just as Adora thought she had gone back to sleep, she mumbled, voice still thick from exhaustion. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Adora paused for a long moment, then continued her ministrations when Catra bumped her head gently against her hip. "Like I said yesterday... Do I really need a reason?"

Catra barked out a bitter laugh. "Guess not. I mean, I always did, but I guess that's just a difference between the two of us."

Adora hummed thoughtfully. "I don't think you give yourself enough credit."

"You barely even know me, and the only reason you know me in the first place is because I nearly ate your roommate," Catra pointed out.

"I know that. But I _also_ know that you texted your roommate so she wouldn't worry as much even though you were starving so badly you were afraid to go home. I know that you refuse to eat cats because you hate the thought of hurting a creature hardwired to seek love from humans. I know that you survived two weeks of starvation on top of a month without food when a lesser vampire would have snapped and gone feral. I even know about your vendetta against the squirrels on the Horde grounds.”

Adora chuckled at the indignant “_What_?!” that elicited, before continuing. “Sorry, I wasn’t meaning to spy on you. I just happened to be in the area when I heard the noise and thought you were going after people again. And yeah, I know the bulk of all that was because I threatened you that night, but it doesn't change the fact that you held on longer than anyone should have been able to. I may not know you well yet, Catra, but I like what I've seen enough to want to get to know you more."

There was a long silence, and if there was a small sniffle, well, Adora wasn't going to point it out. "I've hurt people, you know."

"I know.”

"Even before I got turned."

"Yeah, I figured. Those kind of defense mechanisms aren't just built overnight."

"And yet you _still_ want me around?"

"I'm a firm believer that it's never too late to make a change, if you want to," Adora declared firmly, her mind wandering back to Shadow Weaver and all the terrible things she'd taught her. "I can't do the work for you, but I can lend you strength when you need it. If you'll let me."

Catra was silent for a long moment, watching Adora with one eye--the blue one--still closed. Having that golden eye upon her made Adora more aware than ever of what they both were... But also what they _weren't._

"It'll take time," Catra finally said.

Adora smiled. "It took me some time, too."

"I might backslide into being an asshole."

"I'm perfectly capable of telling you when you're being a dick for no good reason."

"I'm stubborn. I don't like it when people try to smother me or fix my problems for me. I'll probably get mad at you, even if you didn't mean it that way."

"Hey," Adora said, lifting her hand from Catra's hair to look at her fully. "I'm not offering you a one-sided deal. I'm offering you a partnership. One way or another, I _will_ show you how to survive without drawing attention to yourself, the stuff your bastard of a sire should have taught you. But once that's over, if you decide you don't want me around anymore, just say the word and I'll respect that. All right?"

Catra sighed, eyes sliding shut in a sign of vulnerability that nearly kick started the dead lump of flesh in Adora's chest. "I'm tired of going at it alone. Tired of life kicking me in the teeth when I'm just trying to survive."

"It'll be okay," Adora said, and at that moment she meant every word. "If you’ll have my back, I'll have yours."

Catra glanced up at her. "You promise?"

“I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> -dusts off my copy of The Encyclopedia of Vampires- Something I allude to in the fic but couldn't find a way to realistically work into the conversation is that Adora was born a moroii, or living vampire. In a lot of Eastern European countries, some people are thought to be marked out from birth as being especially likely to become vampires following their natural deaths, no biting required. "Moroii" itself is a term used in Romania to distinguish these living vampires from the already dead ones. The causes vary from region to region, but include things like being born with teeth, a caul or on certain religious festivals, and actions in life can increase the chances of the person coming back as a vampire.
> 
> So as Adora kinda indicates in her own thoughts, her status as a moroii attracted the attention of Shadow Weaver, who did what Shadow Weaver does (ie being an A+ parent) and basically raised Adora as her future enforcer and taught her all the things she knows about how vampire society is supposed to work. Adora eventually developed serious issues with the people killing and split after being vamped, and that's why she was willing to give Catra a chance instead of killing her immediately for attacking Glimmer, since she's fully aware that her upbringing gave her a serious advantage over normal turned vampires in terms of being prepared for the transition into the lifestyle. That's also why she experienced such a change of heart when she realized that Catra didn't even get the bare minimum of teaching vampires are supposed to give their fledglings (though it is ADORA, so the fact that Catra is both charming and easy on the eyes also helped.)
> 
> Anyway, Happy Halloween, guys. Be sure to give me a kudos or a comment if you like the story, and check out BITE TO EAT if you haven't already.


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